A Battle of Designers
On the 6th of August 2022, the Founder of Modern Tswana Fashion Week Investments will be hosting yet another big event in the local fashion world. The Battle of Designers Show is set to bring all those that trust they have what it takes to be the next big thing in local fashion world to showcase just what they mean by that. The event will be held at Thapong Visual Arts, from 5pm to 11pm. The event has tickets ranging from P200 to P350. The P250 standard ticket comes with a free cocktail (alcoholic or non-alcoholic); the P200 student ticket includes a free beverage and the P350 VIP Ticket comes with a full meal and a beverage of choice.
Tell us about yourself and what you do basically.
My name is Nchidzi James Chikumo, owner and Founder of Modern Tswana Fashion Week Investments. Modern Tswana Fashion Week Investments was founded in 2017. It is a business which is dedicated to organizing themed fashion events like fashion shows, fashion promotional activities and fashion promotional campaigns. We also host fashion modelling workshops, for both male and female aspiring fashion models. We have hosted more than 100 fashion models and designers at our fashion shows.
You have an upcoming fashion show, tell us more about it.
Battle of Designers will be our 9th fashion event since 2017. It will host a competition for designers who will compete by dressing fashion models on the runway. The designers will compete for cash prizes and other awesome vouchers. The Battle of Designers will also host an exhibition for the arts and other creative industries to showcase their products or services to our audience and over 10 000 social media followers.
Who will be showcasing within the event?
The event will target new and established fashion designers so as to intensify the competitive spirit within the completion. Also designers all over Botswana, both start-ups and established designers are welcome to join. We have designers like Sparkle Designs, Designs by Sega, ND Crochet, Connie Couture just to name a few.
How did they qualify to be part of the show?
There was no criteria to it, the show was open to established and upcoming designers but it had to be creative and committed designers in the fashion Industry.
What are the designers going to benefit from this whole experience?
We intend to showcase Botswana’s fashion design creativity to our audience through the outfits made by the designers and fashion models. We intend to unlock the designer’s next level creativity which they can use on their daily work after the event. The event is aimed at promoting the designers and fashion models to our audience, by so doing, the event should get the designers closer to their target market at the event and create a lasting relationship between the event and the event attendees.
Can you confidently say that the fashion and clothing industry of Botswana is a success story?
The fashion industry in Botswana has a long way to show growth and more creativity, which is why the Battle of Designers Competition is very important to the fashion industry of Botswana. The fashion industry is growing but a very slow pace and the main reason may be that, material is imported and this makes it more expensive for most of Batswana designers. By so doing, it limits creativity and access to the latest clothing materials.
Do our designers breakthrough even beyond boarders?
It does through the advantages of social media, the designers outfits can reach beyond our borders, but due to Covid-19 we can’t travel to other countries but still reach there through social media technology.
How often do we have such events being held within this industry?
There are many various events like this one that are always held in the fashion industry, this one also has been happening for quite some time.
Is it a lucrative industry to be on?
It is a growing industry, so it is the right one to invest into.
As an organization, what do you aim to do within this industry?
Battle of Designers objective is to ensure that we develop and enhance designers’ creativity through a competitive platform which will challenge them to be more creative and think outside the box.
What gives you a drive to invest in the fashion world?
My mother is a fashion designer by profession, so growing up I wanted to do something related to what she has passion for. So I spent my time following fashion models and fashion channels on TV, which is why I started Modern Tswana Fashion Week Investments.
Any last comment?
We encourage the local designers to apply to be registered to the Battle of Designers as it rewards the creativity of the best fashion designers and gives all partaking fashion designers/brands great exposure to the target market, which is usually not with their reach during normal business hours.
Duncan Sebeso